FAQ’s

Will I need to take any tests to be considered for admission? Do you require the GRE?

We do not require any test scores. Submitting GRE scores is optional, but not submitting them has no adverse effect upon an application.

 Is there an opportunity to rotate through different labs or would I need to have decided on a lab before beginning?

We do not have a mandatory rotation system, but students can and do elect to rotate. Those who are able to rotate are the students who will be supported on departmental TAs, a departmental fellowship, or one of the university fellowships. Sometimes RAs on specific grants are available to interested entering students and if it is a good match of professor, student, and project, then the student will just go straight to that lab. As part of the admission process, it is important for us to have a good sense of potential matches for a student, so identifying potential mentors in your application (no obligation) can be helpful to the process.

Is there a rolling admission or does the program only accept students in the fall?

Nearly all of our students enter the program in the fall semester. It is possible to enter at other times, but that is very rare and involves a situation where a specific professor has identified a specific student for an available RA.

Are there departmental funds available to accept/sponsor students?

We only admit students to whom we can offer support. That necessarily limits the size of our entering class. Available support includes departmental teaching assistantships, research assistantships funded by specific grants, and some university fellowships (most for just the first year). There are some training grants, some target entering students, others students in their 2nd or 3rd year.

Do you have any opportunities for a site visit or any recruitment activities?

We do have a recruiting event, usually in late February. We have not decided whether it will be in-person or virtual. The invitees to that event are essentially our short-list applicants.

Can you tell me about the possibility of interdisciplinary studies such as between the plant sciences and microbiology programs. 

With regard to the Plant Sciences Initiative, note that is a multi-departmental (and multi-college) endeavor. Some of the faculty in our department are involved. Note that there are plant biotechnology-related faculty members in Plant Biology, Biochemistry, Crop & Soil Sciences, Horticultural Sciences, and Forestry & Environmental Resources. Each of those has its own graduate program and many of the faculty participate in multiple
graduate programs, including some interdepartmental ones.

When is the deadline to apply to the program?

The deadline for priority consideration is January 15. Nearly all of our students enter in the fall semester, so that is the important deadline. 

Do I need to contact any faculty members before I submit my application?

An important part of our admissions process is to find a good match between an applicant and a potential faculty advisor. No faculty member can or will make an advance commitment to a student. We must have a full application from a student for our review and then finding a good match is part of the process. However, an applicant needs to give us a clear sense of their research interests and identifying specific faculty members with whom you would be interested in working is important. One place to do that is in the part of the application you mention. Another is in your personal statement. You do not necessarily need to have contacted the faculty members. Whomever you indicate will be alerted that we have an application from you and then the admissions committee takes into account the response of the individual faculty members.

Are any studentship/assistantship programs available?

There are some university fellowship programs, most of which are fellowships for just the first year. Hence, we have to be confident that funding will be available beyond the first year before we can admit the student. A program that might be of interest to you is the Genetics & Genomics Scholars.

Do you accept 3 year Bsc degrees or to be more specific two 3 year bsc degrees completed over a 4 year span for admission to the graduate program?

We do accept three year degrees. The NCSU Graduate website has a link to view the countries with member institutions. Please check to see if your institution is listed.

What are your tuition and fees?

Please visit this website to see the tuition and fees. 

What are the minimum scores for the IELTS?

The minimum scores for the IELTS is an overall band score of at least 6.5. Minimum test scores for each section are listed below:
Listening: 6.5
Reading: 6.5
Writing: 6.5
Speaking: 6.5 – for admission, 7.0 – for TA appointment

Can you tell me more about your Masters program and funding?

The timeframe for an MS is very tight, so it is important that a student has a good idea with whom they would work before matriculating. A very important part of the admissions process will be expressions of faculty interest in having a particular student join their laboratory. If a faculty member has an RA on a research grant, then that becomes very much of an advance match situation. If they do not, then their expression of interest is taken into account as we consider admissions, but the support in that case would be a TA (technically TA/RA, with a TA during the academic terms and an RA during the summer). PhD students have the option to rotate through three prospective laboratories. That is not a practical option for a MS student given their shorter time in the program. It is very challenging for an international student to pursue a research-based MS degree. This is because there is a strict two-year time-limit for the tuition support that is provided to students holding assistantships. This makes it all the more important to admit an MS student with an identified faculty mentor.

How do I submit my GRE, TOEFL or IELTS scores to North Carolina State University?

Official GRE and TOEFL test scores must be sent electronically from the Education Testing Service (ETS). The NC State University Institution Code for Test Score Distribution is: 5496. A department code does not need to be selected. When submitting your IELTS scores, you can either submit them electronically through your testing center, or you can scan your TRF scorecard, save it as a PDF, and attach it to an email addressed to graduate_applications@ncsu.edu.
Make sure that in the body of the email you list the following information:
your full name,- the date of your IELTS exam, · the TRF number at the bottom right hand corner of the scorecard,
· and your NCSU Application Reference Number.
As long as the TRF number on the scorecard is visible, we can verify the scores and post them
to your application.

Do I need to apply separately for funding or consideration for funding comes automatically with an application?

Applicants with complete applications by January 15, 2023 will receive full consideration for funding. We only admit students to whom we can offer support, which is either in the form of a departmental teaching assistantship (TA) or a research-grant funded research assistantship (RA). There are a few one-year fellowships and then support in subsequent years would be from a TA or RA. Assistantships come with full tuition support and health insurance. There are additional fees, which are the responsibility of the student (see NC State Cashier’s Office for details). Because we only admit students to whom we can offer support, our entering class is very small, usually just 5-7 students.

GPA, Required Tests, and minimum test scores: I recently took the GRE and TOEFL iBT. What are competitive scores?

Submitting GRE scores is optional. They play a minimal role, if any, in the admissions process. The Graduate School does have TOEFL minima that must be met for full admission, which is required for a student holding an assistantship. There are many rules, which you can review here (see section P).

I do not have any publications to my name except two in review and a manuscript, will that affect my application?

We do expect students to have publications, although we do require that they have had substantial research experience. Two papers in review and a manuscript in preparation would be a positive.

Can I use my unofficial transcript and test scores for the application process? By unofficial, I mean a scanned copy of my transcript and pdf files of my test scores (GRE and TOEFL)?

These are questions for the NC State Graduate School. I think an unofficial transcript is OK for application purposes although, of course, an official transcript would have to be submitted for final admission. I think the test scores require official reports, but submitting a GRE is optional and a TOEFL may not be required if you satisfy one of the exceptions in the link I sent. If you do not satisfy one of those exceptions, then we would need to have the official test report.

Is an admission offer subject to an interview? If yes, What are the things to expect in such an interview?

It would be highly unlikely that we would offer admission to a student that we had either not met in person or had interviewed via Skype or similar. You could expect a conversation that would have as its goal our developing an understanding of your interests, experiences, motivation, and language skills. There is no set formula.

Is there a GRE waiver available for prospective graduate applicants for Spring/Fall 2023, given the severity of the COVID pandemic and insufficient testing centers in international countries other than the United States?

The GRE is optional. Not submitting a GRE score does not have an adverse effect upon an application.

Is there a TOEFL waiver available for prospective graduate students from Nigeria, given that Nigeria is an English-speaking country, and my BS degree was obtained in English?

You would not require a TOEFL score for the reasons you state.

Does the program provide funding assistance in the form of assistantships to prospective applicants who meet the program’s Masters and Ph.D. application requirements? Is there a priority deadline for consideration for an assistantship?

We only accept students to whom we offer support. This necessarily limits the size of our entering group. The priority deadline for full consideration for assistantship support is January 15. The nature of the support system at NC State is such that we would most likely not admit an international student for an MS degree.

If this is the case, do I need to submit a separate application to be considered for an assistantship?

The support and admissions decisions are integrated. There is no separate application, although you will see there is a place on the application where you indicate that you are interested in support.

Do I need to have a potential thesis advisor before being considered for admission and funding if I apply for a Ph.D.?

In theory, no, but in practice it makes a very big difference if a professor tells the admissions committee that they are interested in a particular student. It is possible with some kinds of support to rotate through three laboratories before selecting an adviser. Even in that case, we would need to know that three professors were interested in working with the student. Again, our admissions process is highly competitive.

What conditions will an application waiver be granted to an applicant?

We can only grant application fee waivers if a professor tells us that they are very interested in a particular student. We are not able to offer application fee waivers to everyone who requests them.